AN EXERCISE in teamwork by young Prince’s Trust volunteers has given a Redcar gym a new lease of life.

The 10 Prince’s Trust workers, all aged 16-25, moved in to spruce up part of Redcar Gymnastics Club’s Kirkleatham Street building.

An old room needed some TLC and DIY to bring it back into use as a changing facility and rest room and to give extra space for the vault run-up.

The youngsters carried out the work as part of a course run by Cleveland Fire Brigade supported by the Prince’s Trust and Stockton Riverside College.

The Prince’s Trust Team20 crew, supported by Cleveland Fire Brigade and based at New Marske FC, drew up a plan of action, helped by equipment donations from firms such as MKN Building Merchants, QPP, First Choice skip hire, Focus DIY and Arco.

To ensure they had enough supplies to do the job, the young people also helped to raise £350 through a Tesco’s bag pack and they also held a sponsored silence.

They then put in quite a shift doing the actual painting.

And to put the finishing touches to the room, coach Sue Cook and daughter Imogen left their mark on a “hand wall” where everyone involved in, or benefiting from, the revamp can leave a handprint.

Princes Trust team leader, Lee Toogood, said: “The room was full of junk with crumbling walls - it was quite manky!

“But they did a great job and the gym club was delighted.”

The Prince’s Trust was asked if they wanted to get involved by Barbara Hall, Redcar and Cleveland Council’s children and young people’s trust manager.

And she, like the club, is thrilled with the result, telling the volunteers: “The back room certainly looks a lot better and is a much nicer place for the gymnasts to have their breaks in.”

After completing the course the youngsters gained qualifications, skills and help getting back into employment.